


Permanence

by Ashesofthesoul



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M, Tattoo AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2015-04-20
Packaged: 2018-03-24 22:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3786214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashesofthesoul/pseuds/Ashesofthesoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ludwig had always been terrified of his tattoo. (Germancest, based on the post where everyone has a tattoo of their soulmates first words. Dark themes, character death. Commission I meant to upload on here ages ago.))</p>
            </blockquote>





	Permanence

Ludwig had always been terrified of his tattoo. There was just something so grim, so final about the words, etched into his skin since the day he was born, the same as everyone else. And he was the only one he knew whose marking read off as it did. Everyone else had such simple words. _“Hi, I’m lost.” “Excuse me, you look like someone I know.”_ And then there was Ludwig.  
 _“Tell my mother I loved her.”_  
What did that even mean? And so the blonde had spent the last twenty odd years, worrying and wondering what the words could even mean. The downfall to the markings were it gave no indication of where or when you’d meet your soulmate. Only that you’d know them as soon as they opened their mouths.   
Sighing, Ludwig carded his fingers through his hair, his steps brisk as he moved down the sidewalk. The twenty four year old was out far later than he had anticipated, he’d gotten stuck late at the office, and the only grocery store still open was located some distance from his home, in a part of town he wasn’t too familiar with. Anxiety coursed through his veins as he tried to locate the store, after all, this was considered the bad part of town, and that simply made his desperation to get to the store and back to the safety of his home grow even more.   
Not that he overly needed to worry. At six foot one, with the build of an American football player, not many people would be stupid enough to try to attack him. But for all his size and stature, Ludwig was a nervous man by habit, constantly overanalyzing even the simplest of situations.  
“Fuck off! Do you know how goddamn hard I work for the little bit I have? I work two jobs just to make ends meet, and you think you can buy a shiny gun and I’ll hand it over!? Get a fucking job, you lazy piece of shit!”  
Ludwig heard the voices, and his curiosity grew. Was someone in trouble? It sure sounded as though they were. The blonde moved to the alley where the arguing was coming from, peeking around the corner…  
Just as the loud pop of a gunshot filled the air.  
Instantly, Ludwig found himself running towards the noise. Someone was definitely hurt. As he moved towards where the sound had come from, he dialed an ambulance, desperately pleading for help and giving his location as he came to where the pop had come from. Looking at the sight before him, Ludwig felt nauseous. He’d never been good with blood, but seeing the beautiful silver haired man laying there, clutching his stomach, his shirt stained the same dark crimson as his eyes, it took everything in him to keep the contents of his stomach in. He kneeled beside the man, checking for a pulse, his hands moving to put pressure on the wound. That was what you were supposed to do, wasn’t it?   
The man under him winced, sitting up slightly, weak, shaky fingers grabbing an old receipt and a pen from his pocket, forcing himself to stead as he wrote out a name.   
“Tell my mother I loved her. Please, Mister, if I don’t make it. Tell her.” He pleaded. “Name’s Gilbert. Only… “ A ragged breath, and a violent coughing spree followed. “Only one she’s got.”  
Ludwig could almost hear the sound of his own heart breaking in his chest. His blood ran cold, blue eyes widening. _“Tell my mother I loved her.”_ No. No! This couldn’t be happening. This man… this man that lay maybe dying in his arms couldn’t be the one. There was no way the universe would be that cruel, would it?   
Tears welled in Ludwig’s eyes as he lifted a bloodstained hand to stroke soothingly over the other’s cheek. “Shhh… I’m here.. hold on. You’ll get to tell her yourself, Gilbert. I already called an ambulance. I… you’re… “ Ludwig shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts as he waited desperately for the ambulance to come, silently praying it would come in time. He couldn’t watch Gilbert- his soulmate!- die in his arms. He just couldn’t. “My name is Ludwig.” He whispered quietly. “And I need you to hold on for me….” His voice cracked and shook as he held up his arm, showing the albino the words.  
It was hard to see. Gilbert’s eyes were hazing and fuzzing around the edges, but there was no mistaking the words on the other mans wrist. A weak smile tugged at his lips, even as he fought to stay awake. “So you’re him, huh? Stay with me….” He pleaded. It was cold, and shudders began to wrack his frame, Ludwig taking off his jacket and draping it over the mans front, letting go off his stomach and holding his hand tightly.   
A feeling of relief washed over him as the ambulance finally came. But Ludwig never let go of Gilbert’s hand. Not as he was strapped to a stretcher. Not as an oxygen mask was placed over the silver haired mans face. Not even when those crimson eyes closed, leaving the blonde only praying he’d get to see them open again, that they’d be able to meet properly.   
It was only at the hospital that he finally let go, watching with panicked fear as they rolled Gilbert into surgery. As long as the bullet hadn’t hit anything vital, the doctor told him, there was a good chance Gilbert would survive. Pulling the slip of paper from his pocket, he took a deep breath, calling the silver haired man’s mother, as he’d been asked to. When she arrived at the hospital, he held her, doing his best to comfort this stranger whose son he was destined for, in the same way he would hope someone would comfort his mother, should anything ever happen to him.   
“Thank God you were there to call for help. Thank you. For staying with him, and getting him here. If he makes it through, I’ll owe you my everything. My son is all I have left.” She explained as the blonde gently wiped at her tears.   
“I was meant to be there.” Ludwig murmured quietly, flushing and looking away as he held out his arm. “This was the first thing he said to me. To tell you he loved you, in case he didn’t make it.   
The woman’s eyes widened, as she gave a nod of understanding, patting Ludwig’s cheek gently. “Then he’s a lucky boy, my Gilbert. It’s clear you’re a good boy. Be good to him.” Adalene murmured softly. She remembered how it had felt when she herself had first found the match to her words. The panic, the confusion she’d felt. Surely this young man must be terrified, considering not only had he found his destined one, but that his soulmate, who she doubted he’d even gotten to properly talk to before, was now lying in an operating room, trying to cling on.   
The doctor emerged from the hallway, a grim look on his face. “How is he?” Ludwig asked hoarsely. His hands were shaky, voice barely audible. He had to keep it together. For the man in the hospital bed, whose words were etched into his skin. For the woman beside him who looked so tiny and broken. Already, Ludwig felt such an incredibly strong feeling of protectiveness over both. They were his to keep safe.   
“He’s out of surgery, and he’s stable. However, he had a reaction to the anesthetic. He…” A pause, the doctor giving them a sympathetic look. “He’s in a coma. We hope he’ll come out of it soon, but we don’t know when that will be. It could be a day. It could be a month. Only time will tell. You can see him now though.”   
Keeping a gentle arm around Gilbert’s mother, Ludwig walked with her into the room, his breath catching in his throat as he saw his soulmate. He was hooked up to various wires and machines, an iv in the back of his hand, an oxygen mask on his face.   
“You can go home now, dear.” Adalene whispered, tears streaming down her face as she stared at her son so broken in a bed. “I’ll call you if anything changes.”  
But Ludwig simply shook his head, even as he held her comfortingly. “If it’s alright, I’d rather stay. I promised him. The last thing he said was “Stay with me please.” and I…. I want to keep my promise. And it isn’t fair to make you stay here alone, I can only imagine how awful this must be for you. I just…” He took a breath, trying to organize his thoughts enough to make the words come. “I want to stay.”  
And he did.   
Even when the doctors tried to shoo him out. Even when Adalene fell asleep in one of the chairs, the blonde man tucking her in gently with a spare blanket he got from a nurse. Even when the stark silence of the room and the incessant beeping of the monitors threatened to drive him to madness.   
He never let go of Gilbert’s hand.   
With a sigh, Ludwig lifted the others pale fingers to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to the back of his hand, wiping at the tears that once more threatened to fall. “You know…” He spoke into the silent air. “I was always terrified of meeting you. The words… they always scared me, and in a way, I hoped you’d never come along. But now… all I can think about is how terrified I am I’ll lose you, before I even got to really know you.”  
Another soft kiss pressed this time to the albino’s knuckles. “I need you to wake up, Gilbert. Your mom… she needs you to wake up. I don’t know if you can even hear me from wherever you are, but if you can… I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to stay right here with you, just like I promised. I’m going to protect you, Liebling. I swear it.” Ludwig let his head fall, resting on the edge of Gilbert’s bed. He would stay, and he would wait.  
Even if it took a lifetime.


End file.
